Where The Newspaper Stands

Someone says "state park," and what do you think of? Woods and nature trails? Sure. Cabins and picnic shelters? Yep. Maybe a little canoeing or hiking? Of course.

But a working farm? A mansion? A plantation? Well, yes -- at Chippokes Plantation State Park in Surry County.

Spend an afternoon or a day and see how Virginia's landed gentry lived along the James River, circa 1854. Drink in that old, old smell of boxwood in formal gardens. Catch a glimpse of life a generation earlier at the river house. Or find out about the grueling work that maintained that life on the working farm, which has been in continuous operation since the 17th century. See the three dozen historic farm buildings, including barns, apple mill, corn crib and slave quarters. Scattered among several of them, the Farm and Forestry Museum tells the story of life on a Virginia farm in the mid-19th century, from soil preparation to harvesting, farm animals to tools. From the museum, you can walk a scenic trail a third of a mile to an old sawmill.

Bring a picnic. Stay overnight at the campground or, if you like your history up close, in one of the restored tenant farmers' cabins, with reproduction furnishings. There's a visitor center, Olympic-sized pool, kiddie pool and hiking and biking trails.

While you're at Chippokes you'll see why Virginia needs the $78 million of bond funds that will go for facility upgrades and repairs at Virginia's 34 state parks. More than $4.6 million will come to Chippokes -- the third highest sum of any Virginia park. Most of it -- $3 million -- will go toward restoring some of the outbuildings so they can be used in interpreting farm life. What you'll see today are old dependencies whose builders, in the 18th and 19th centuries, made them functional, simple and inexpensive, but didn't worry about whether they had the structural features or careful maintenance to weather the ages.

There aren't a lot of farm structures from the period left, and once they're gone, they're gone. Re-creations, which most historic farms resort to, just aren't the real thing. So Virginia will be smart to invest a little to repair rotting wood, shore up sagging roofs and keep on painting.

Another $1 million will go to improving overnight accommodations: expanding the campground, adding better accommodations for RVs and groups, restoring two more tenant farmers' cabins for guests, and upgrading the concession area. About $600,000 will fund replacement of the water system, a century old and showing its age. Additional money will go toward buying more land for the park.

Chippokes doesn't depend just on state funds. The General Assembly created the Chippokes Plantation Farm Foundation, which runs the model farm and museum. It gets money from farmland rent, donations, admissions and gift shop sales.

Do yourself a favor. Visit Chippokes. And vote yes on the state parks bond issue on Tuesday.

Light rail

Approval of Norfolk plan a substantial step forward

Trying to develop a light rail system for Hampton Roads can be likened to trying to get from the Peninsula to south Hampton Roads on the Friday afternoon of a holiday weekend. There are different routes, but none is easy and all of them have some common obstacles.

One of those obstacles has been overcome. The Federal Transit Administration has approved Norfolk's plan for an eight-mile, $222 million transit line that would hug the Elizabeth River and stop at Eastern Virginia Medical Center, downtown locations, Harbor Park and Norfolk State University before ending near the Virginia Beach line.

With the feds' blessing the project can now move to preliminary engineering.

This is good news for the Peninsula. Although plans for light rail on the Peninsula aren't as far along as those for the Norfolk segment -- studies of route alignment alternatives are still under way -- what's ultimately envisioned is a regional system. The trick, of course, will be to connect the two sides, but more on that in a bit.

FTA approval of the Norfolk project, while crucial, does not guarantee that a light rail line will be up and running as planned by 2008. The project must still clear numerous hurdles. The most important: how to pay for it.

The city and state will be expected to pay a substantial share, but much of the money would come from the federal government. And for that to happen, Norfolk would have to win out against three dozen other U.S. metropolitan areas also vying for money to build light rail lines or expand existing ones.

Still, the transit administration's blessing is a critical step forward. It's testimony to Norfolk's leadership in sticking with a plan for light rail despite numerous setbacks or obstacles, including the 1999 rejection by Virginia Beach voters of a light rail proposal connecting the two cities. Norfolk's eight-mile line can serve as the core from which the system can expand as ridership demands and funding allows.